Power saws are a type of cutting tool, which are useful for quickly and easily cutting material, such as construction lumber and other building products. A common type of power saw is a portable circular saw, which includes an electric motor, a circular saw blade coupled to the electric motor, and a foot plate through which a portion of the circular saw blade extends. Typically, a user prepares for cutting a workpiece with a circular saw by resting the foot plate on the workpiece, aligning the saw blade with a desired cut path. Then the user energizes the electric motor and manually guides the rotating circular saw blade in the direction of the cut path, often following a marked line on the workpiece.
The drive train of a typical circular saw includes a motor shaft of the electric motor and a geared transmission assembly. A gear member of the transmission assembly is typically press fit onto the motor shaft. After being press fit onto the gear member the gear member rotates with the motor shaft to transfer torque from the electric motor to the transmission assembly and then to the circular saw blade. However, the gear member is generally not removable from the motor shaft should the circular saw require servicing.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a circular saw drive train that effectively transfers torque from the electric motor to the circular saw blade and that is serviceable should the circular saw experience a fault.